Linda Gail Odegaard Wood Lee

Linda Gail Odegaard Wood Lee, age 72, of Layton, Utah passed away at her home on Thursday December 19, 2024. She was born in Ft. Worth, Texas on May 9, 1952 to James E. Johnson and Nancy Brown Beardsley.

 In her younger years she loved spending time in Chicago, IL with her adoring grandmother, Lu and husband Ralph whom she also adored and spent time with on her visits to Chicago. She spent most of her life in the Minneapolis, MN area as her five beautiful daughters grew up. She worked at the Minnesota Star Tribune for 20 years. After retiring, she and Gary spent time in Florida and Texas before settling in Salt Lake City, Utah. Linda married Gary E. Lee in August of 2023.

 In April 2024, she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was a member of the Lakeview Ward.

 Linda loved music of various genres, spending time with family when she could, loving and caring for her “fur-babies” (dogs, Minnie, Cory, and ZT, along with many others who passed before her), she enjoyed traveling with Gary, crocheting and computer electronics. Linda also enjoyed working in Sales and Customer Services, she had a soothing voice and was gifted with her ability to de-escalate situations, she took great pride in her ability to do that. 

She is survived by her loving husband, Gary Lee and daughters Kimberly (Sam) Riser, Dawn (Dave) Burbul, Jennifer (Royce) McCoy, Kristin (Lane) Gehrman, Angela (Jon) Medina, her brother Mark Johnson; and 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren with 3 more on the way. 

 Linda was preceded in death by her Parents James Johnson and Nancy Brown Beardsley, siblings Cynthia Martin, Valerie Johnson, and Scott Johnson. 

 A message from her daughters: Our love goes out to Gary who has selflessly spent several years caring for our mom. Always ensuring she had the proper medical care and equipment to make her comfortable while her health declined. 

 We also want to thank the LDS community for the love and support she received over the last year. With a very special thank you to Diana Fletcher, who was always there to help, even when our mom just needed a listening ear.

 A Funeral service will be held Friday, January 3, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the Lakeview Ward Chapel, 2505 N. Church St., Layton, Utah.